Chicago

Former White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel is up for reelection, and President Obama stopped by his campaign headquarters to praise his mayor.

"[T]he main reason I'm here is just to say thank you to all of you who are helping out Rahm. Rahm Emanuel is somebody who cares deeply about this city. He cares deeply about the children of this city. He’s been willing to make some really hard decisions on behalf of those children and on behalf of our future. Everybody knows that he is passionate and he is tough and he is dogged in making sure that the city of Chicago is not just the coldest city -- but also the greatest city," Obama said during a stop at Emanuel's Chicago campaign headquarters.

"And you look at what’s been accomplished in education, what’s been accomplished in terms of the infrastructure, bringing jobs back to this city -- I have confidence as a voter and as a resident of Chicago that he’s going to continue to do a great job.

"But the only way that happens is if people get out there and vote. So all of you are critical to the process. Those of us standing here, we benefit from your willingness to be involved and participate in this great civic exercise we call democracy. And you're doing it on behalf of not only a great mayor, but also a great friend of mine. I couldn't be prouder. I'm glad he’s my mayor and I'm glad he’s going to be my mayor for another four years.

Last night at a Democratic fundraiser in Chicago, President Obama mentioned that there are some "unpaid bills" on his desk in Chicago--which he left when moved to the White House after winning the presidential election in 2008. Here's what he said:

Joseph Epstein; a fan's notes.

Sometime in mid-February, after the long winter, baseball fans are delighted to read, usually over a two-paragraph-long story buried beneath the fold in the sports pages, the tag line Pitchers and Catchers Report. They are reporting, of course, to spring training two or three weeks ahead of the rest of their teams, and the announcement bodes the first news of the lengthy and leisurely baseball season ahead.

President Obama has arrived in Chicago, where he'll spend the night before two public events in his hometown. The president did not travel with his family.

He's now dining out with top adviser Valerie Jarrett and various friends, according to the White House pool report. They're at the steak house RPM Steak, where a nice cut can cost up tp $155, according to the restaurant's website.

Here's what Obama has on tap in Chicago tomorrow, according to the White House:

Chicago mayor Rahm Emanuel might be in trouble. If a recent poll is to be believed, Rahm might have trouble getting reelected.

"Only one in five Chicago voters credit Mayor Rahm Emanuel with doing a better job of running the city than Richard M. Daley did, and only 29 percent would support him if the mayoral election were held today," the Chicago Sun-Times reports.

Kristen McQueary, a member of the Chicago Tribune editorial board, has a devastating piece in her paper on Chicago mayor Rahm Emanuel. In short, the mayor--the former congressman and former chief of staff to President Obama--hasn't lived up to the bluster.

Believers in limited government and privatization lost one of their unsung heroes with the death of distinguished economist Ed Clarke on October 10. Clarke conceived of an idea he called revealed demand, a notion that helped make the case for having the market allocate goods and services formerly thought to be the sole province of governments.

Jean Bethke Elshtain, 1941-2013

Jean Bethke Elshtain may have been the busiest woman many of us had ever met. Shuttling back and forth between her regular teaching appointment at the University of Chicago and her settled home in Tennessee, she wrote and wrote—and wrote and wrote. Essays, talks, books, memos to fellow directors on the almost endless number of boards on which she served. Letters, emailed comments about her friends’ latest work, notes on current theological and political issues: a ceaseless flow of words.

First Lady Michelle Obama and Chicago mayor Rahm Emanuel are teaming up to work on "youth empowerment," the White House announced today. They'll join together later this week in Chicago for an event on the issue.

Chicago is bereft of celebrity fans.

I was watching the Chicago Blackhawks play the Los Angeles Kings in the western Stanley Cup final round when, in the second period, the television camera panned to Tom Cruise, sitting alone in a rink-side seat. “Tom Cruise is a big Kings fan,” the announcer said.

Raising money to win back the House.

Later this evening, President Barack Obama will head to his hometown of Chicago to attend two Democratic party fundraisers aimed to help his party help win back the House of Representatives from the Republicans.

"In the afternoon, the President will travel to Chicago. The departure from the South Lawn and the arrival at O’Hare International Airport are open press," Obama's schedule reads.